Admittedly, it is a rather difficult proposition: to put a price on climate change. Even the numbers people don’t want to put a number on it.

While most consumers take the humble vanilla bean for granted, producers of the spice know that things aren’t looking so good. Crop failures have food manufacturers in a buying frenzy, and the rising prices could hit that most precious of summer commodities — ice cream. Analysts are already expecting a 10% price increase for the frozen treat, but it might not be all bad news

It’s very complicated, they say, and largely dependent on uncertainties like when and where the world’s worst-ever storm will hit.

But dollar signs tend to drive the point home, especially when they come before, say, 13 figures. And so it is with climate change.

Deciding the cost of a heatwave — like the one that recently swept the United States — helps determine how quickly something is done about it.